Chicago will hire hundreds of new police, but no stated way to pay for them

Mayor Rahm Emanuel

Thursday’s announcement that Chicago would be hiring hundreds of new police officers was met with both surprise and delight by many concerned about the city’s increasing homicide rate.

Residents are shocked by last month’s record increase, the most violent in 20 years, with 67 people shot over one weekend, which resulted in 11 deaths; the news was welcomed by all - especially those concerned about public safety.

To see numbers this high, with homicides reaching 90, one has to go back to October of 1996, where the total was 85; in fact Chicago had more homicides and shootings than both New York and Los Angeles combined during a similar period.

So far this year there have been 487 homicides and more than 2800 people shot, with many occurring in broad daylight. On the North Side, a grandmother was shot while walking her dog, and a young man, believed to be in his early 30s was shot outside a social service agency, again on the North Side, in the Uptown neighborhood.

While these shootings have reflected the increasing gang violence, and the subjects were the unintended victims of bullets meant for other gang members, the damage is done to the city’s reputation, not to mention the loss of innocent lives.

The face of  gang violence has changed in this lakefront city, from inter gang to intra gang disputes, with many altercations having their origins on social media vehicles, such as Facebook, where taunts and insults are the norm, say police officials.

Now, they note that filling the void with overtime is no longer sustainable, despite a decades long habit. Recently the tab for overtime rang in at $116.1 million, up $17.2 million in 2014.

In contrast, and also recently,“Emanuel and his Budget Director Alex Holt have argued repeatedly that overtime is a more flexible and cost-effective substitute for police hiring because the city doesn’t have to bear the cost of pensions and benefits for new officers”, reported the Chicago Sun-Times.

In the past attrition was also used to balance the budget for what are known as 9161’s -- those officers that are the first responders. With often seemingly fuzzy math, those that were on medical leave, or disability, showed figures that were not wholly accurate in the police budget.

Now, this longstanding practice is supposedly ending, but on Friday when pressed to say exactly how many police would be hired, and how they would be paid for, Mayor Rahm Emanuel was mum, and according to the Chicago Sun-TImes, would only say, “The fact is, there are certain fiscal conditions that have improved in the city.” He was, according to some, referring to the boost in the city's financial health from the credit rating agency, Fitch, which just changed both their estimate, and outlook on Chicago, from negative to stable.

When pressed, the mayor would only say that he felt the need for a “comprehensive” strategy to curb gun violence,and that “if I put more officers on the street, and  we have same lax gun laws, you haven’t reached public safety.”

The day before, long time alderman, and council floor leader, Patrick O'Connor said, “It’s less of a change in strategy and more of a response to this incredible streak of gun violence. By doing this, we hope to begin to get control of the gun violence that seems to grow all the time,” he told the Sun-Times.

The biggest problem with this change of direction, for the cash strapped city, is how to pay for the officers. Also, in contrast, it seems that there was a distinct change in that endeavor within twenty-four hours, when previously it seemed that “wiggle room” had been found.  O’Connor also refused to say how the additional officers would be paid for. He did suggest that recent moves to shore up funds for outstanding pension funds had helped with this decision.

In 2015, the City Council approved a $588 million property tax increase for police and fire pensions and school construction. And, just last week, “Emanuel’s hand picked Board of Education signed off on a $250 million property tax increase for teacher pensions.”

In addition, “On Sept. 14, the City Council will be asked to put the final piece of the pension puzzle in place — by approving Emanuel’s plan to slap a 29.5 percent tax on water and sewer bills to save the Municipal Employees pension fund, the largest of the city’s four pension funds.”

“If the aldermen have the courage to pass the water tax, there’ll be resources to do the things the aldermen and the mayor want to do” such as  hire more police officers, said O’Connor.

Water taxes are not new as a source of revenue, for Chicago, and O’Connor had even asked churches, three years ago, to pay for their own water; with attendant complaints from the Catholic Church, who were met with his saucy comeback that they should attend to their own business, and tackle the continued fallout from the priest sex abuse scandal.

Of course, all of this comes in the aftermath of the Laquan McDonald case where the black teen was shot 16 times by a white officer as he walked away. With the video tape being suppressed, until after Emanuel’s re-election bid, and with the aid of State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, there were public cries for the mayor’s resignation, a successful effort to vote Alvarez out of office, and also a Department of Justice investigation.

Now comes a three tiered effort at reform with a replacement for the so-called Independent Police Review Authority that did less at review, and more at keeping the status quo of officers always being in the right, even when evidence showed otherwise.

Right out of the gate, the plan has problems with the newly proposed Civil Office of Police Accountability, lacking its own independent counsel, and having to rely on the city’s law department “that defends police officers and negotiates the police contract.”

Adding to the problematic mix is the lack of a budget that would hamstring even the best of intentions, but mostly, no significant change, says University of Chicago law professor Craig Futterman, who called all of this a “recipe for failure.”

He also remarked “To fix what needs to be fixed, it takes resources. You need a floor of at least 1.5 percent of the Police Department budget,” more than twice the budget of the current IPRA.

Mostly, Futterman notes that there must be a complete withdrawal from the influence and actions of City Hall. And, he has the support of the current IPRA chief Sharon Fairley who will serve as the interim first administrator. She says, “I believe that the new civilian oversight agency should have independent legal oversight of the the matters that fall within the agency’s jurisdiction from start to finish.”

In the background is the historical racial divide that has long been in the city. As Tribune Editorial Board member Steve Chapman wrote: “The biggest source of racial tension is also the oldest one — the divide between whites and blacks, manifested in economic disparities and broadly different views of law enforcement. Most whites express confidence in police, but only 30 percent of African-Americans share that trust. Though blacks continue to feel they face discrimination, most whites believe they don't.”

Without efforts to address this, as well, Emanuel’s efforts are doomed to fail.